spoonful of sugar

Saturday, 29 January 2011

Nice and quiet day today. A little yoga this morning, a lot of baking and playing, some housework ( but not too much ) a spot of gardening and just a few minutes spare to finish my page for Sketchy Thursdays.
I took these pictures in Spain last weekend. I really like them and the quote goes perfect with the big picture. I truly believe in enjoying life's little pleasures, the smell of spring, a child's giggle, the expectation of cakes in the oven, a clean car (which is very rare in my case !), a visit to the grand parents, a good book, you know what I mean. It is easy to be negative and moan ( trust me I like a good moan!) but scrapbooking has made me look at the bright side of life. I wouldn't really enjoy telling the story of my whingeing children or my pile of ironing so I focus on the little moments that are special.
Anyway, here is my lay out.

Friday, 28 January 2011

After spending all day at home with Harry yesterday, I went out in the evening for some Me Time with my friends. They all want to remain anonymous so let's just call them Sue and Sue, Claire and Rachel. We went to Sue's house which is just Amazing ! I have never, ever, seen anything like it ! It is straight out of a magazine and yet cosy and warm and inviting. Anyway, Claire had made gorgeous chocolate Brownies, Rachel and brought some wine and we spend the evening scrapbooking, a little, and gossiping, a lot, as usual. I made this page with "a little help from my friends " of Amelie last weekend in Spain. I really like the colours, although I wasn't sure at first of the background colour. Anyway, here is it so let me know what you think.

Thursday, 27 January 2011

I would like to say a huge thank you to all the staff at Frimley hospital who has been looking after us for the last three days. Unfortunately, none of them will propbably ever read this blog but they have all been extraordinary. Unfortunately, Harry had to be rushed to hospital on Monday as he couldn't breathe. It turned out to be a chest infection but since he has asthma, we had to spend the first night in intensive care with oxygen and all kinds of machines attached to him. The staff was kind and funny, caring and entertaining. I admire all of them for their devotion and attention. They all do a great job under very stressful and busy conditions. All the doctors and nurses, catering staff and cleaners, entertainers and reception staff, were all fantastic and made us feel safe and well looked after. So much so that Harry didn't want to leave !! Mind you, the fact that there was an Xbox in the playroom might have had quite a lot to do with it! So again, a huge thank you.

Thankfully Fantastic Mr Mouse came to hospital with us and tried all the machines and medecine before Harry, just to check they were ok ! My mum made this little fellow and she actually also made another one, who hasn't got a name yet, but also came to hospital with us.

Monday, 24 January 2011

Hello everybody !
We had a lovely weekend in Spain. The weather was not great and the plane got delayed coming back and we ended up landing back in the uk at 2.30 AM, but all in all, kids were great, it was nice to see the grand parents, walk on the beach, have some tapas and fresh oranges, and of course it was a great opportunity to take loads of pictures. My favourite must be one of he kids walking in the empty airport !

Hopefully I will get a chance to do some scrapbooking with some of my new pictures this week.

Friday, 21 January 2011

Just a quickie today, loads to do and busy weekend ahead.
I had a chance to work on a page last night with a scketch from Sketchy Thursdays. The paper is again from the Homemaker range of October afternoon. The pictures were taken last winter when the kids found a box and made a TV. They spent all afternoon practising their act and then offered me a hand made remote control with a list of channels I could choose from. I had such a laugh.

Anyway, I am off for a run ( although it looks so cold out there I am desperately looking for an excuse not to go ! )
Have a lovely crafty weekend !
Anne

There is a little charity shop near me that sells all sorts of treasures ( or what other people, including my husband, would call junk ! ), ribbons, buttons, felt, lace, bits of leather and so much more.

I had a little trip there today and came across some interesting bits of fabric and buttons, I am not too sure what I will do with them, but I really like them !And for £2 for the lot, I couldn't walk away ! Corsage flower may be ? Any suggestions...

Still no sign of my mum's parcel, Harry will be disapointed when he gets back from school.

Wednesday, 19 January 2011

I received a little parcel yesterday from Craftie Charlie, a lovely shop on the Internet, run by two lovely ladies. The products always arrive quickly and are nicely packaged. I ordered some papers from October Afternoon called Modern Homemakers. I love them they are so cute. I know a lot of my friends will like them too, but hands off, they are mine !

I decided to use my new papers for a challenge on The Studio. The theme is Me Time. Tell us what you like to do when you get some time for yourself. Well, I don't get much time for myself, although I work from home so I am very lucky, but in the evening, I love to go to bed early to read a good book. I would choose a book over TV anytime. I also added a few other things I like to do, like shopping !! Once a stewardess, always a stewardess !! Now that we have TK Maxx here, I am a happy girl. It is always full of stuff that you never knew you needed !!

Anyway, here is the page. the stitching took quite a while but I manged to do some while waiting for the kids to come out of school ! (time management !! You see ! ). I like the end result but I think I need tips from Lisa to make my pages a bit more vibrant and messy.

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And just because I haven't blogged for a few days I thought I would add another page I did a while back about Harry. Harry and Amelie love anything remotely crafty and in our house, not very much goes in the recycling bin. We keep tins and boxes, lids and toilets rolls in a big basket for the kids to play with and make stuff . ( Although, don't tell them but everything eventually ends up in the recycling bin, one way or another !)

That day Harry had a little friend to play and they just "made stuff" all afternoon. Who needs game consoles when you have a cardboard box !

So that's it for today. I might be able to come back tomorrow. I am waiting for a parcel from my mum full of goodies, including a hand made teddy for Harry.

Friday, 14 January 2011

Last night, I went to see a friend for a little scrapbooking and a lot of gossiping !! I managed to finish one page, hoorrray, I normaly don't achieve much when I am chatting away eating biscuits !
I decided to use pictures of Amelie on her first day at primary school. It is hard to believe that this was already three years ago. She was ever so good on her first day, she never cried or looked back and she has been happily going to school ever since.

I used a sketch from sketchy Thursday for this page. A bit upside down but still there nonetheless!

I like the stitching on this page. My mum and my sister will tell you that I am not a natural seamstress, and they are right, but I like using threads on my pages and I am getting better ! Watch this space Gwen, You will be asking Me to sew you cushions soon !! ( or may be not !!).

Thursday, 13 January 2011

I really should go for a run but the weather isn't so great and I am lacking self motivation and discipline right now. I will go straight after this !!
So here is a lay out I made during the Christmas holidays to remind myself of the fun we had preparing the Christmas fair for our school. Fun, isn't actually the right word, it was more like hard labour, but still, strangely enough I enjoyed myself and would do it again ! Roll on our next project !

Wednesday, 12 January 2011

In france, we celebrate the new year by eating a special cake called "La Galette". It is special because inside is hidden a little stone, or what we call "une feve". Whoever gets the "feve", becomes king or queen of the day and gets to wear a crown !!. People share this cake with friends and families and it is real good excuse to invite people over and have a little party. You can buy galettes anywhere nowadays, even in the supermarkets but they are quite easy to make. So yesterday, I decided to bake one for my adult French class. It looked and tasted lovely, although, I think I need a bit more practise so I will have to bake a few more during the week !!

And now for some scrapbooking!

I made this page at the beginning of January and I really like it as it captures how I felt at the time. I very rarely scrap anything about me. My children are much cuter than me !! but after I made that page, I promised myself that I would try to do a similar page every year just so that I can compare my life as time passes ( and count my wrinkles !!).

I have obviously not enough to do with my days and so, after much resisting, here is my new blog ! I think it might take a while until it looks the way I would like it to look, and I am not even sure I will have much time to post anything on it ! But at least, it is a start and one of my new year's resolution ( or revolution as Amelie would say ! ) ticked !
So happy new year everyone.
Anne